Posted on 09/06/2019 2:55:28 PM PDT by ransomnote
No one was injured when an A-10C Warthog "unintentionally released" a phosphorus smoke rocket about halfway between Phoenix and Tucson, the Air Force said.
The Air Force is investigating after a jet accidentally fired a rocket into the desert about halfway between Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, on Thursday.
The Air Force said the jet, an A-10C Thunderbolt II, popularly known as the Warthog, "unintentionally released a single M-156 rocket" at about 10:40 a.m. while on a training mission.
Ain’t nothin but jackrabbits and ‘yotes out there, so probably didn’t hit anything important...and destroying Eloy or Arizona City would probably be considered urban renewal
“I meant to do that!”
Shouldn’t that be difficult to do? That is, requiring more than one step?
There’s a Martha McSally joke in here somewhere ;-)
I’ve been in that lovely desert. Sure hope the cacti weren’t damaged
Musta been quite a show! Wasteful, though...
Eloy is one of THE vacation spots in AZ (well, maybe not really)
Was it one of the areas held by Mexican Invaders?
The M156 Smoke (White Phosphorus) warhead is used primarily for target marking purposes. The total weight of the loaded, unfuzed warhead is 8.9 lbs. of which approximately 2 lbs. is white phosphorus (WP) and 2 ounces of Composition B high explosive. Upon detonation, the high explosive ruptures the warhead and disperses the WP to generate a white smoke cloud. http://www.solidpartners.com.my/product/armament/crv7-rocket-weapon-system-rws/warhead-various-type-usage/m156-smoke-white
They missed you.
The Arizona desert shrugged it off, and was not disturbed over the incident.
The guy with the office across from me is a retired A-10 pilot and trainer who worked out of DM. I asked him about this today and his response was, essentially, “It happens all the time and it happens worse. I’m amazed this one made the news”. Some hilarious stories followed and then we all went back to work.
We need a pic of this to pass around south of the border as Trump’s new anti-caravan missile.
If you hit a human trafficker +500 points
“Okay so the button works...”
It is for skydiving
Way back, I heard Buzz Aldrin on Art Bell.
The circuit breaker issue on the Moon came up, and Aldrin said the turning off circuit breakers is common on armed aircraft, at least for the weapons systems under non-combat travel or conditions.
Tends to avoid “accidents”.
Air Force jets fly themselves or what?
Didn’t they get in trouble for shooting coyotes in the Goldwater range?
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